Effect of salviae miltiorrhizae and ligustrazine hydrochloride injection on axonal regeneration and nerve growth factor expression in a rat model of sciatic nerve injury

BACKGROUND： Studies have shown that both salviae miltiorrhizae and ligustrazine can promote protein expression of nerve growth factor （NGF） and regeneration of peripheral nerve. OBJECTIVE： To verify the effect of salviae miltiorrhizae and ligustrazine hydrochloride injection on axonal regeneration and NGF protein expression in a rat model of sciatic nerve injury. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING： A randomized, controlled, animal experiment was performed at the Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Institute of Bioengineering of Jinan University from July to December 2008. MATERIALS： Salviae miltiorrhizae and ligustrazine hydrochloride injection （containing 20 mg salviae miJtiorrhizae and 100 mg ligustrazine per 100 mL injection） was provided by Guizhou Baite Pharmaceutical, China; salviae miltiorrhizae and ligustrazine decoctions （containing 1 g raw drug per 1 mL decoction） were provided by Guangzhou Baiyunshan Factory for Traditional Chinese Medicine, China; rabbit-anti-rat NGF monoclonal antibody was provided by Beijing Biosynthesis Biotechnology, China. METHODS： A total of 80 healthy, male, Sprague Dawley rats were used to establish a sciatic nerve injury model via neurotomy, and were then randomly assigned to 4 groups： salviae miltiorrhizae and ligustrazine hydrochloride injection group （intraperitoneal injection of 35 mL/kg per day salviae miltiorrhizae and ligustrazine hydrochloride injection）, saIviae miltiorrhizae group （intragastric peffusion of 2 mL salviae miltiorrhizae）, ligustrazine group （intragastric peffusion of 2 mL ligustrazine）, and model group （intraperitoneal injection of 35 mL/kg per day saline）, with 20 rats in each group. Thereafter, rats in each group were then divided into 4 subgroups according to varying time points of 1, 2, 4, and 8 weeks post-surgery, with 5 rats in each subgroup. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Axons were quantified using chromotrope 2R-brilliant green and silver staining combined with image analysis to calculate the axonal regeneration rate; NGF expression was detected using immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis; toe interspace was measured by behavior at 4 and 8 weeks. RESULTS： With increasing time after sciatic nerve expression, and toe interspace gradually increased njury, the axonal regeneration rate, NGF protein At 4 and 8 weeks post-surgery, axonal regeneration rate and NGF protein expression were significantly increased in the injured tissue of the salviae miltiorrhizae and ligustrazine hydrochloride injection, salviae miltiorrhizae, and ligustrazine groups, compared with the model group （P 〈 0.05 or P 〈 0.01）, and toe interspace was remarkably enlarged （P 〈 0.05 or P 〈 0.01）, especially in the salviae miltiorrhizae and ligustrazine hydrochloride injection group. CONCLUSION： Salviae miltiorrhizae and ligustrazine hydrochloride injection promoted axonal regeneration and NGF protein expression in the injured sciatic nerve, and also enhanced neurofunctional recovery. Its effect was superior to salviae miltiorrhizae or ligustrazine alone.

A survey of autoencoder-based recommender systems

In the past decade,recommender systems have been widely used to provide users with personalized products and services.However,most traditional recommender systems are still facing a challenge in dealing with the huge volume,complexity,and dynamics of information.To tackle this challenge,many studies have been conducted to improve recommender system by integrating deep learning techniques.As an unsupervised deep learning method,autoencoder has been widely used for its excellent performance in data dimensionality reduction,feature extraction,and data reconstruction.Meanwhile,recent researches have shown the high efficiency of autoencoder in information retrieval and recommendation tasks.Applying autoencoder on recommender systems would improve the quality of recommendations due to its better understanding of users,demands and characteristics of items.This paper reviews the recent researches on autoencoder-based recommender systems.The differences between autoencoder-based recommender systems and traditional recommender systems are presented in this paper.At last,some potential research directions of autoencoder-based recommender systems are discussed.

Modulation of expression of P16 and Her2 in rat breast tissues of mammary hyperplasia model by external use of Rupifang Extract

tract in external use on expression of proto-onco- genes her2 and tumor suppression genes p16 in rat breast tissues of mammary hyperplasia model. To explore the mechanisms of Rupifang Extract in external use for preventing and treating mammary hyperplasia. METHODS Thirty virginal female Wistar rats were randomized into 5 groups, 6 in each, A： blank con- trol group; B： model group; C： the low dose group of Rupifang; D： the middle dose group of Rupifang; and E： The high dose group of Rupifang. The mam- mary hyperplasia rat models were produced by in- jecting estradiol benzoate and progesterone and ir- ritating by tail nipping. Drug intervention was also launched during the model formation. After 30 days, the expression of her2 and p16 in breast tis- sues of rats in each group were detected by the SP immunohistochemical method. RESULTS： Compared with Blank control group, the expression of her2 in breast tissues in Model group was higher, and the expression of p16 was lower （P〈O.05 or P〈O.01）. After intervention with Rupi- fang Extract, compared with Model group, the ex- pression of her2 in breast tissues in Rupifang groups was lower, and the expression of p16 higher （P〈O.05 or P〈O.01）. CONCLUSION： The mechanisms of Rupifang Ex- tract in external application for preventing and treating mammary hyperplasia may be reducing the expression of proto-oncogenes her2 and in- creasing the expression of tumor suppression genes p16.